Opposition lawmakers vow ‘resistance,’ legal action against firing of Shin Bet chief
Lapid accuses PM of ousting Ronen Bar in order ‘to sabotage’ probe into aides’ alleged ties to Qatar; Ben Gvir, Smotrich and Karhi praise decision; Bennett: Netanyahu has to go
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Opposition politicians reacted with outrage Sunday evening to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement that he was moving to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, vowing to take legal action to block the move.
Members of Netanyahu’s coalition, meanwhile, predictably welcomed the move, vowing to support the premier’s efforts to oust Bar from his position and echoing his claim that the decision was made due to “ongoing distrust” between the two men.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said his Yesh Atid party would petition the courts against the planned dismissal, arguing that the move was clearly meant “to sabotage a serious criminal investigation of the Prime Minister’s Office.” The Shin Bet is currently looking into suspicions that top aides to the prime minister had improper ties to Qatar.
“Netanyahu is firing Ronen Bar for only one reason: the ‘Qatar-gate’ investigation,” Lapid claimed. “For a year and a half, he saw no reason to fire him, but only when the investigation into Qatar’s infiltration of Netanyahu’s office and the funds transferred to his closest aides began did he suddenly feel an urgency to fire him immediately.”
Lapid noted that Bar has said that he will take responsibility for the failure of October 7 and resign after the hostages return home. He added that his dismissal at this time was “irresponsible” and showed a lack of commitment to those held in Gaza.
The premier recently removed Bar and Mossad chief David Barnea from heading the team negotiating the next stages of the Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal, replacing them with loyalist Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer.
Lapid alleged that the “clear purpose” of Bar’s dismissal “is to sabotage a serious criminal investigation into the Prime Minister’s Office.”
“Netanyahu has once again put his private interests above the good of the country and its security. All the slander and all the attempts to shift responsibility for the failure onto the security system will not help Netanyahu. He is primarily responsible for the failure and disaster of October 7, and that is all that will be remembered of him,” the opposition leader added.
National Unity party chairman Benny Gantz called Bar’s dismissal “a direct blow to the security of the state and the dismantling of unity in Israeli society for political and personal reasons.”
Yair Golan, head of the left-wing The Democrats party, said Netanyahu’s decision was a “declaration of war” against the State of Israel and a “desperate attempt” by the prime minister to escape investigations into alleged criminal offenses.
Golan vowed to lead a “tremendous resistance” to the move, and sent a letter to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara demanding she intervene and prevent Bar’s ouster. (The attorney general did indeed inform Netanyahu on Sunday evening that he could not remove Bar prior to a legal review.)
The government has also been working in recent weeks to fire Baharav-Miara.
Yisrael Beytenu party chairman Avigdor Liberman also condemned Netanyahu’s decision, declaring that if the prime minister “had fought Hamas with as much determination as you are fighting the Shin Bet chief, the Attorney General’s Office and the judicial system, the holocaust of October 7 would have been prevented.”
Former IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi “is out, Ronen Bar is on the way, and now it’s the turn of the one at the top of the pyramid — the prime minister of October 7,” Liberman added.
Meanwhile, members of Netanyahu’s coalition expressed strong support for the move, promising to vote in favor of the decision in the cabinet.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called Bar’s ouster a “necessary step,” adding that while the Shin Bet chief deserves thanks for his years of service, he nevertheless should have “taken real responsibility and resigned of his own initiative more than a year ago, saving the need for his dismissal.”
Accusing Bar of arrogantly “clinging to his seat,” Smotrich said that irreconcilable differences between Bar and the political echelon made his continued tenure impossible.
Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben Gvir — who left the coalition in January over the ceasefire-hostage release deal in Gaza, but is reportedly eyeing a return — said that Bar should have been ousted long ago, but it was “better late than never.” He claimed that “there is no place in a democratic country for officials who conduct themselves in a politically confrontational manner against elected officials.”
“The right must learn from President Trump to eradicate the ‘Deep State,'” Ben Gvir added, referring to the US president’s sweeping efforts to rid the nation’s top bodies of those deemed disloyal and install political allies in their place.
Economy Minister Nir Barkat, considered by some to be a moderate in the party and willing to challenge Netanyahu, nevertheless expressed support for the move, saying that if the trust between Netanyahu and Bar “was violated, he must be replaced.” He called on the opposition “not to turn this topic into a political issue.”
There was no immediate comment from Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who rejoined the government last year and announced last week that his New Hope faction would merge with Likud, six years after he quit the party following a failed bid to replace Netanyahu.
Education Minister Yoav Kisch said Bar should have quit, but Netanyahu was “right in deciding to have him fired,” while Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi accused the Shin Bet chief of having “turned himself into a dictator with the backing of the attorney general.”
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who is gearing up for a political comeback, accused Netanyahu of seeking to avoid responsibility for October 7 with his decision.
“Mr. Netanyahu bears ultimate responsibility for the worst failure in Israeli history, and should have resigned long ago,” Bennett tweeted, arguing that the prime minister’s “passive and defeatist policy allowed Hamas and Hezbollah to build themselves up as terrorist powers on our borders for 15 years.”
While the heads of security services also failed, “they took responsibility,” he added. “Netanyahu, on the other hand, is running away from his responsibility. The State of Israel will not be able to recover without his resignation.”
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